|

Indonesia’s strongest tornado on record

ByTeo Blašković
Large tornado hits West Java Province, damaging more than 50 homes and injuring 22, Indonesia

Image credit: Disaster Tracker (stillshot)

Last week, Indonesia experienced its strongest tornado on record, injuring at least 33 people and causing extensive damage to hundreds of buildings in the West Java province, according to government officials.

Indonesia’s strongest tornado on record hit West Java Province at 16:00 LT on Wednesday, February 21, 2024, prompting immediate response and investigation by local authorities and scientists.

Erma Yulihastin, a climatologist with the government’s research body BRIN, announced plans to “reconstruct and investigate the tornado,” noting its similarity to the more violent tornadoes typically observed in the northern hemisphere.

The tornado’s path included the sub-districts of Cicalengka and Rancaekek in Bandung Regency, as well as Jatinangor and Cimanggung in Sumedang Regency, causing significant injuries and damage. At least 30 people suffered injuries, predominantly from being struck by debris from houses and trees.

Hadi Rahmad, a spokesman for the West Java disaster mitigation agency said over 800 families were affected by the disaster, with 13 factories and 10 houses in Sumedang and an additional 18 factories and 233 homes in Bandung sustaining damage.

References:

1 Indonesia investigates after first large-scale tornado strikes – Reuters – February 22, 2024

2 Large tornado hits West Java, damaging hundreds of homes and injuring 30 people, Indonesia – The Watchers – February 21, 2024

Teo Blašković founded The Watchers in 2011 and edited it until 2026, covering seismic and volcanic activity, extreme weather, space weather and near-Earth objects. Articles on this page are his archive.

Share:

Published in the last 24 hours

  1. NASA built the Opportunity rover to last 90 days on Mars, and Martian winds helped keep it alive for nearly 15 years by blowing dust off its solar panels, until a planet-wide dust storm in 2018 blocked sunlight and silenced the rover Epicenter
  2. In the winter of 1811–12, earthquakes near New Madrid, Missouri, shook so hard that witnesses saw the Mississippi River flow backward, and the shaking left a brand-new lake in Tennessee Epicenter
  3. On 28 August 1859 a solar storm shocked telegraph operators and threw sparks on other lines, and on 2 September Boston to Portland clerks unhooked their batteries and kept sending for more than two hours on the aurora's current alone. Epicenter
  4. In 2019, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library hired hundreds of goats to eat 13 acres of brush around it; months later the Easy Fire surrounded the library, and the fire break the goats left behind slowed the flames before they reached the building Epicenter

From around the web